Quicken Loans’ Creativity Helps Build Internship Program

The Quicken Loans Family of Companies has found it helpful to think of building an internship program similar to constructing something we all can relate to—an ice cream sundae.

“Because getting an internship is so competitive on both the student and employer side, you have to think about what really matters to your audience,” explains Andrea Bajaj, business support executive for Quicken Loans.

“There are so many different flavors of ice cream for a reason—not everyone has the same interests and likes. The same goes for an internship program. You have to treat everyone the same, but different, and the more personalized as you can make the internship program for a large group of interns, the better.”

Bajaj explains that Quicken Loans’ personalized program is based on business areas and allows students to flourish during their internships and enhance the skills for which they were hired.

“The individual fields within a business are becoming so niche and competitive you have to stand out as a student, and as an employer you have to stand out for the student to spend their invested time with you,” she says.

“With an ice cream sundae, every topping is what makes the ice cream so delicious. In an internship program, all the details—the events and elements that make it unique and personalized—are what makes the experience so successful. We also build relationships with them to understand their behaviors, thought processes, and interests. Interns are our fresh eyes to the business and this is an opportunity to use their opinions.”

Fun and creativity are key aspects of Quicken Loans’ culture. The company has 20 “ISMs,” which are simple sayings that convey foundational cultural philosophies of the company.

“They are essentially ways of life for our team members,” Bajaj says. “We also have so many avenues that encourage creativity and expressing everyone’s ideas.”

“On campus,” Bajaj says, “we’re ourselves. We do things differently than the norm and we bring the office energy on campus. We also use our intern alumni to tell their story on where they’ve been and how they got to where they are today.

“Essentially every intern who stays with our family of companies is a success story and they’ve made a name for themselves by their ideas that have come to fruition. Our entire team is made up of former interns and we think that’s why we brand our program so well.”

Andrea Bajaj—along with Janelle McLaughlin, team leader, internship program; and Dan Ngoyi, director of talent acquisition—will present “Building an Internship Program, One Scoop at a Time” at the 2018 NACE Conference & Expo.